The editor-in-chief of the state’s largest newspaper and an independent journalist are among the recipients of the Dixon First Amendment Awards annually handed out by the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government.

Kent Walz, the editor-in-chief of the Albuquerque Journal, will receive the lifetime achievement award from the organization while Peter St. Cyr received the award for journalism.

The other two recipients are Dr. Chad Painter for education and Mark Leech for government. The four winners will be honored at the annual FOG luncheon in October.

Former 60 Minutes investigative producer Walt Bogdanich will speak at the event. Bogdanich worked for ABC News as a producer and as an investigative reporter for the Wall Street Journal.

Walz had previously sat on the board of directors for the open government organization and was among the founders of the organization in 1991.

“His unwavering commitment to the organization has continued as a member of the legal panel, willing consultant and champion of the people’s right to know,” FOG president Gregory Williams said in a statement. “It is fitting in FOG’s 25th anniversary year that we honor Kent with this long-overdue award.”

St. Cyr will be honored for his work using public records for stories in the public interest, according to the organization.

Painter will receive the award for his work teaching future journalists at Eastern New Mexico University including on open records. Painter is the faculty advisor for The Chase, the campus newspaper.

Leech works for the City of Albuquerque as the applications services group manager. FOG lauded his work in “proactively releasing and posting databases on the city website” in the news release.

“These individuals recognize that secrecy is inconsistent with democratic ideals and with access to information citizens can hold their public officials accountable,” Williams said.

State Rep. Bobby Gonzales shook his head from side to side after listening to all the suggestions about how to meet a judge's order to provide more resources to New Mexico children who, in the court's view, are not receiving a good public education. "About 15 different ideas," the Democrat from Taos said following a hearing on the topic last week in the House Appropriations and Finance Committee.

A recent poll shows Democrats are poised to clinch most statewide races, while a congressional race remains too close to call and one expensive state race leans towards Republicans. A poll by Research and Polling, Inc. for the Albuquerque Journal shows Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham leads Republican Steve Pearce 53 percent to 43 percent in the race for governor.

New Mexico’s biggest daily newspaper is scaling back. The Albuquerque Journal recently eliminated six positions, including one in the newsroom, according to Brian Fantl, the newspaper’s senior vice president and chief operating officer.

The University of New Mexico is reevaluating its policy of charging for electronic copies of public records on a per-page basis in response to a reprimand from the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office. In an email to NM Political Report, the school’s Office of University Counsel said the UNM public records custodian is “evaluating the fee structure” for fulfilling requests of electronic records.

State Rep. Bobby Gonzales shook his head from side to side after listening to all the suggestions about how to meet a judge's order to provide more resources to New Mexico children who, in the court's view, are not receiving a good public education.

Matthew Reichbach is the editor of the NM Political Report. The former founder and editor of the NM Telegram, Matthew was also a co-founder of New Mexico FBIHOP with his brother and one of the original hires at the groundbreaking website the New Mexico Independent. Matthew has covered events such as the Democratic National Convention and Netroots Nation and formerly published, “The Morning Word,” a daily political news summary for NM Telegram and the Santa Fe Reporter.
Matthew has appeared as a panelist for the Society of Professional Journalists’ New Mexico Chapter’s panel on covering New Mexico politics and the legislature.
A native New Mexican from Rio Rancho, Matthew’s family has been in New Mexico since the 1600s.